Chord Electronics has unveiled Poly, a new network module which is set to introduce high-res wireless streaming, SD card and network music playback to Mojo, with both smartphone control and playback.
The Poly module enables the award-winning Mojo headphone amp/DAC as a fully fledged high-resolution wireless network music player, streamer and SD card playback device, and offers wireless playback and control from smartphones. Poly removes the need for a wired link between phone and Mojo for the first time, and allows a world of content to be decoded and played back using Chord’s proprietary DAC technology.
Poly is based on a condensed high-level PC, with data server, DLNA receiver, Wi-Fi hub, Bluetooth module and SD card (using MPD) functionality, and highly sophisticated software. It acts as a Wi-Fi and Bluetooth hub and can access music in a number of ways including streaming over Wi-Fi, network storage devices (NAS) and collections stored on SD cards using Mail Player Daemon. Bluetooth connectivity and AirPlay functionality provide real flexibility with smartphones and enable multiple Mojo/Poly combinations to be used throughout the home, providing a high-quality multi-room streaming playback solution. Highly advanced yet miniaturized as a plug-in module for Mojo, Poly has been designed for full control using the best (and most familiar) user interface in the world — the smartphone. When connected to Mojo, Poly conveniently slips into pockets, bags and handbags — it doesn’t need to be hand- carried or regularly checked like other players. Mojo was always a smartphone-enabling device and the same is true of Poly, the company says.
Poly is compatible with the latest high-resolution-audio file types and supports PCM files up to 768kHz resolution and DSD64 to DSD512 (Octa-DSD). The high-quality SD card reader/player frees up smartphone memory and storage, so vast libraries no longer need be kept locally on phones.
The device includes a rechargeable LiPo battery, giving around nine hours playback from a sub-four- hour charge, using the device’s fast-charging circuit. Both Mojo and Poly can be simultaneously charged using Poly’s Micro USB connector. Poly is precision-machined from aircraft-grade aluminum and hand assembled in the UK.
Poly can be controlled with a wide range of music playback apps for both Android and iOS devices, with AirPlay offering additional compatibility and intuitive operation with enabled devices. Poly also integrates with advanced music players such as Roon (excluding SD cards). Supported file types include: ACC, WAV, FLAC, AIFF, OGG VORBIS, ALAC, WMA and MP3.